Frequently Asked Questions

General

In light of the pandemic of COVID-19 that is heavily affecting all countries across Europe and the world, the PARSEC Accelerator team has decided to move online all activities that were planned to take place in the months of March, April and May 2020. The PARSEC Bootcamp originally planned in Stuttgart, Germany is cancelled and replaced by a full day PARSEC Online Bootcamp that will take place on the 27th March 2020. The matchmaking events have been transformed into an ongoing networking and interaction online. PARSEC will use a dedicated matchmaking space under Brella, a virtual networking platform. The platform will be available during the whole duration of the Open Call 2. For more details on the new matchmaking process please visit the Applicants page. The PARSEC Demo Days will take place online on the 2-3 July 2020 instead of them being held in a form of a physical event in Brussels, Belgium.

For the time being, all other planned activities remain as originally scheduled. The PARSEC team is closely following the COVID-19 developments, guidelines and restrictions and retains its right to further adjust other future activities accordingly. All adjustments will be communicated through the official PARSEC channels in due time.

The PARSEC acceleration programme provides equity-free funding and business support services such as coaching, networking and training. However, the PARSEC Accelerator aims to go beyond its own immediate boundaries by creating a nurturing ecosystem and providing long-term support to its beneficiaries. Services developed within the PARSEC Accelerator – such as its three business catalysts – will support future business models for Earth Observation-based innovation, even after the formal end of the project.

You can apply if you are either a single entrepreneur, a start-up or an SME representative or an aspiring founder (including students or researchers), located in one of the 28 EU Member States or Horizon 2020 Associated Countries:

  • One of the Member States of the European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
  • One of the Outermost regions or the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to the EU Member States.
  • One of the Horizon 2020 associated countries: Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia.

For details and eligibility criteria to participate in the accelerator read the Guide for Applicants.

It is possible for you to participate if one of our first stage beneficiaries includes you as a member of their consortium for Open Call 2. You will need to join the PARSEC matchmaking space under Brella, a virtual networking platform powered by AI. The PARSEC matchmaking space is open for networking among the 100 PARSEC beneficiaries and SMEs who are not first stage PARSEC beneficiaries. The platform is available during the whole duration of the Open Call 2 and you can freely join at any time by registering here. For more details on the new matchmaking process please visit the Applicants page.

The full PARSEC acceleration programme lasts until October 2021. The first stage support services will be provided between March and June 2020 and the second stage support services between September 2020 and October 2021. However, you will benefit from participating in the PARSEC ecosystem even after the official end of each of the stages of the PARSEC Accelerator.

It means that the PARSEC Accelerator will not require equity in return to the funding provided. Put simply, we will not require any type of ownership of your start-up or SME, in exchange for the funding we provide.

Yes. PARSEC Accelerator is designed for supporting new innovations for food, energy or environment sectors in broad terms (including for example agriculture, mining, etc.), using Earth Observation. However, our applicants can come from various backgrounds. If you come from a different sector and are willing to join the accelerator, our matchmaking and networking events will help you in building cross-sectoral (and cross-border) partnerships so that together you can develop a new product or service for the food, energy or environment sectors which uses Earth Observation.

No. We solely provide accelerator support and no incubator services are provided.

English is the official language of the Accelerator. All activities, application submissions, documents, communication, learning and mentorship related to the PARSEC Accelerator will be in English.

The business catalysts are a suite of tools designed to support entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of Earth Observation (EO) data and technologies and develop new products or services. They are:

  • Big Data Toolbox: An array of tools making it easier to access and process large amounts of satellite data to convert into value-added services
  • In Situ Data Hub: A vast warehouse of locally-sourced datasets covering everything from weather sensors to drones
  • eoMall Galleries: A showcase for your innovation on eoMall, an online platform for promoting EO-based services.

Read more about the business catalysts here.

Yes. The business catalysts are made freely available for PARSEC Accelerator beneficiaries. They will provide lots of layers of information. Specific needs will be discussed during the PARSEC Accelerator first stage.

No, it is not obligatory, but it is highly recommended that each consortium’s product/service uses at least one of the following three platforms. Business catalysts will be available for the first stage successful applicants on test areas and to co-design future layers they will need in the second stage. It is worth noting that, the PARSEC Business Catalysts are tools that could add a great deal of value to your service or product and make it much easier to build new services or extend existing ones.

We will be happy to answer to your questions – simply write to us at info@parsec-accelerator.eu.
Open Call 1 – first stage beneficiaries

If you are selected, you have to attend the PARSEC online bootcamp and to participate in the online matchmaking platform in order to receive the funding and other support services of the Accelerator.

No. You should cover your travel and accommodation expenses. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, currently no travel costs (tickets, accommodation) are necessary as all the PARSEC Accelerator events until May (included) are occurring online. Travel costs currently could occur only for travelling to the PARSEC Demo Days in Brussels, Belgium, on 2-3 July 2020 as part of the Open Call 2. The further developments of the COVID-19 pandemic may force us to reschedule or redesign the PARSEC Demo Days as well, therefore, we invite you to closely follow our communication channels.

The precondition to receive the second installment of Open Call 1 funding, even if you choose not to apply for Open Call 2, is to submit your final report in the form of a pitch deck (the template provided for Open Call 2) that you developed during stage one. The deadline to submit the pitch deck i.e. the final report of Open Call 1, in PDF format, is June 20th, 2020 at 17:00 CET.  This is applicable to all Open Call 1 beneficiaries whether they are coordinators of newly founded consortia, partners or not proceeding with application for Open Call 2. For all details please read the Chapter 3, section 3.5.2 of the Open Call 1 Guide for Applicants.

Yes, you can find partners outside of the PARSEC ecosystem and add them in your consortium.

After having applied to the Open Call, the PARSEC Accelerator Open Call evaluation team (evaluation@parsec-accelerator.eu) is the main point of contact.

Yes, you can apply as a single entrepreneur, or as a natural person. If you are natural person you’ll need to register in order to sign a contract with us and become a PARSEC Accelerator beneficiary.

You have to represent an SME that complies with the European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC5 and the SME user guide . Your company should employ less than 250 people and your annual turnover cannot exceed €50 million or your annual balance sheet total cannot exceed €43 million.

Yes, you can apply if you are registered as such and comply with the European Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC5.

Yes. If you are selected as one of the 100 winners of Open Call 1, it would be necessary to register as a single entrepreneur or an SME in one of the eligible countries, in order to sign a contract with the PARSEC Accelerator.

No, not for the Open Call 1. However, if you apply for, you should be keen to explore if Earth Observation (EO) can support your vision and find a partner. Participating in the PARSEC Accelerator programme is your opportunity to learn how to use EO for your benefit and to find partners from the EO community.

Yes, the PARSEC Accelerator does not exclude those cases, but it is your responsibility to make sure that your accelerator or incubator does not impose similar constraints on your participation in our accelerator.

No. For Open Call 1, it is not necessary to have a concrete proposal ready. Applicants are requested only to present their skills, competences, understanding of sector dynamics and their vision and ambition for new products/services to be developed.

No. We only accept one application per applicant.

The Declaration of Honour is a formal document on exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interest. The document will need to be accepted online in the evaluation process. Therefore there is no need to send any document by email at this stage. For any questions regarding the application submission please contact the PARSEC evaluation team at evaluation@parsec-accelerator.eu

Yes. You need to respect the deadlines for application. By applying you consent to becoming an evaluator of other applications through the peer-to-peer evaluation platform. Evaluation is a mandatory process for all applicants. If for any reason you cannot fulfil this commitment within the deadlines set by the PARSEC Accelerator management team, your application will not be considered. We recommend that you carefully read and understand the Guide for Applicants before applying.

Your application video will be evaluated and ranked through the peer-to-peer evaluation platform by other applicants. An algorithm will evaluate the quality of the evaluations you submit on the videos of other applicants. Your final application ranking will depend on both of these aspects. Your application has to be ranked among the 100 best applications in order to access to the benefits of the first stage of the PARSEC Accelerator.

All application videos are evaluated and ranked through the peer-to-peer evaluation. Regarding the applications that do not necessarily address Earth Observation (EO) solutions, one of the main ideas behind PARSEC Accelerator is to bring EO technologies closer to the current startup ecosystem. For this reason, PARSEC Guide for Applicants gives the opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators from different fields to apply and creates a funnel approach where the top 100 later get the chance to work together combining different skills and experience. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate these applications based on the three evaluation criteria and in that way ensure we have a final mix of high quality applications. So, based upon your business experience, you should try to evaluate to the best of your knowledge.  That would most probably be the choice of the others who review the same pair, and you will stay on the safe side (not be penalized if you are in the minority at some pair). Note that you just rank and that your ability to review contributes 49% to your overall success. This is the whole point of the evaluation system, to capture “common sense” or “wisdom of the crowd”.

The results will be available on the PARSEC website after the evaluation process is finalized.

Yes, if you are a resident of (for individual applicants) or if your business is registered in one of the Horizon 2020 associated countries: Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia. Full list of countries is available in the Guide for applicants.

For technical assistance, you should refer to the PARSEC Open Call platform FAQs (link) in the first instance. If you continue experiencing issues with your submission, please contact the PARSEC Accelerator Open Call evaluation team at evaluation@parsec-accelerator.eu.

Yes, it is possible if one of our first stage beneficiaries includes you as a member of their consortium for Open Call 2. You may need to join a Regional Networking event, details will be communicated in due time through the website.

Open Call 2

The Open Call 2 “Call for Consortia”, aims to identify products and services with high market potential. As a result of this call, 15 winning consortia will receive 100.000€ per consortium (25.000 – 50.000€ per start-up/SME) along with second stage support services such as Investment readiness program, Coaching and Export promotion services. More details on the second stage support services can be found in the chapter 3.3 of the Guide for Applicants.

Cross-border (from different eligible countries) and/or cross-sectoral (from different market sectors) consortia of 2-4 members each are invited to participate in the Open Call 2. The criteria for participation are that (i) one or more partners in each consortium is a PARSEC first stage beneficiary after Open Call 1 and will be the leader of the consortium, and (ii) consortia must propose EO-based services and products that address the needs, challenges and market trends in at least one of the PARSEC focus emerging industries energy, food and environment. More details can be found in the chapter 3.1 Applicants eligibility of the Guide for Applicants.

The deadline is 20 June 2020 at 17:00 CET (Central European Time).  Any submission received after this date and time will automatically be excluded. To complete the process, eligible applicants will be invited to pitch their business concept during the PARSEC Demo Days, that will take place in Brussels, Belgium, in 2-3 July 2020.

Note: Due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the safety measures, the dates and form of the PARSEC Demos Days and the future PARSEC events are a subject to change.

Open Call 2 is open for cross-sectoral and/or cross-border consortia of 2-4 companies where at least one of them is one of the 100PARSEC.
Cross-sectoral refers to consortia that comprise of companies that can represent different sectors. For example, an eligible cross-sectoral consortium of 2 entities is an IT company and an Agriculture company who work on use of Earth Observation data for the agriculture sector, where the agriculture company is representing the food sector, and the IT company is representing the Earth Observation sector, as they will be implementing the use of an Earth Observation-based tool. All the details on eligibility of consortia can be found in chapter 3 in the Open Call 2 Guide for Applicants.

Yes, the product or service that you will develop with your consortium needs to use Earth Observation data or services. EO-based, which in the context of PARSEC means the use of satellite data. All the details on the Open Call 2 can be found in the Guide for Applicants.

The use of one or more PARSEC Business Catalysts is strongly recommended and will be seen as an asset at the evaluation process, but it is not obligatory. You can read more how the Business Catalyst can support your solution on the Business Catalysts page.

First, you need to read the Open Call 2 Guide for Applicants. Second, you need to form a cross-sectoral and/or cross-border consortium of 2-4 entities. As a consortium you will have to prepare a pitch deck that presents your business concept To apply, you will need to submit your application as a consortium before the 20th June 2020 at 17:00 CET by sending the necessary documents to admin@parsec-accelerator.eu. The documents that need to be submitted are (download here):

  • Consortium declaration,
  • Pitch deck,
  • Declaration of Honor on exclusion criteria and absence of conflict of interest.

In order to participate in Open Call 2, after the pitch deck submission, applicants will be invited to attend the PARSEC Demo Days where they will present their pitch decks including product/service overview, business model and the road map. Read the Guide for Applicants, section 3 for details.

Yes, you can find partners outside of the PARSEC ecosystem that match the Open Call 2 eligibility criteria and add them in your consortium. You can also find partners through the PARSEC matchmaking space in Brella which is also open for interested SMEs and entrepreneurs beyond the PARSEC first stage beneficiaries. The matchmaking facility will be open for networking during the whole duration of the Open Call 2.

The 100PARSEC profiles are available here. To network and match-make with them you can either contact them using their contact details and/or find them in the PARSEC matchmaking dedicated space in the Brella app. To join Brella you will have to register here and use the invitation that the PARSEC Team will send you after your registration. The PARSEC matchmaking space will be open for networking among the 100PARSEC beneficiaries and eligible SMEs or entrepreneurs who are not first stage PARSEC beneficiaries during the whole duration of the Open Call 2.

Each consortium can consist of 2 to 4 small-to-medium enterprises or sole entrepreneurs. At least one of the members of the consortium needs to be from a different country or from a different sector to create a cross-sectoral and/or cross-border consortium. Read the full eligibility criteria in the Guide for Applicants.

After applying to the Open Call 2  until the 20 June 2020 by 17:00 CET, eligible consortia that will be invited to the PARSEC Demo Days, which will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of July 2020. During the demo days applicants will have the opportunity to physically pitch their business idea in front of an experienced and independent jury. The jury will be composed of a number of experts with a strong overview of the market (e.g. senior managers of successful EO companies, opinion leaders, investors, etc.). Furthermore, VCs, business angels and private investors will be present at PARSEC Demo Days, granting consortia an opportunity to raise extra capital and ensuring project impact beyond its lifetime. On the second day of the demo days, on the 3rd of July, 15 consortia having the highest score will be selected for the second stage of PARSEC Accelerator. For details please read the chapter 3.4 of the Guide for Applicants.

Note: Due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the safety measures, the dates and form of the PARSEC Demos Days and the future PARSEC events are a subject to change.

PARSEC Demo Days

In our commitment to support SMEs and start-ups’ innovation efforts during the ongoing uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to hold the PARSEC Demo Days online on the 2-3 July 2020 instead of them being held in a form of a physical event in Brussels, Belgium.

For details about the Demo Days please read the Open Call 2 Guide for Applicants.

In our commitment to support SMEs and start-ups’ innovation efforts during the ongoing uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to hold the PARSEC Demo Days online on the 2-3 July 2020 instead of them being held in a form of a physical event in Brussels, Belgium.

For details about the Demo Days please read the Open Call 2 Guide for Applicants.

To participate at the PARSEC Demo Days the consortia must:

  • Fulfil the eligibility criteria,
  • Have a product or service prototype at a minimum TRL 5,
  • Have a concrete go-to-market strategy,
  • The use of at least one PARSEC Business Catalyst will be considered as an advantage.

For details please read the Open Call 2 Guide for Applicants.

The consortia invited to participate at the PARSEC Demo Days, will need to present:

  • A Pitch. The pitch is based on the pitch deck you submitted for your application. This part should be a straight-forward, well-rehearsed narrative, including problem statement, introduction of the solution and definition of target audience(s), estimated market size, overview of competitive landscape, business model, team description and financial projections.
  • A Product/Service Overview. A demonstration of how the product or service works, and an understanding of its product/market fit; possibly providing a prototype of the product/service. The consortia should show a clear understanding of economic value for customers shown.
  • A Business Model. Each consortium must provide a detailed business model for their product/service, including a description of how the 100.000€ will be spent in case they are selected for the second Stage (including specific milestones).

As an annex to the Contract, the successful consortia will be required to provide a detailed table with the allocation of resources, timetable, milestones and deliverables based upon a pre-defined template that will be an Annex to the Contract. The Open Call 2 beneficiaries will have to prepare and submit deliverables according to their approved timetable. The payments will be done upon the review and acceptance of deliverables. More details can be found in chapter 3.3.1 Financial support of Guide for Applicants.

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